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Jake Tracey
Jacob Adam Riley Tracey, preferably known as Jake Tracey 'or '''JT '(born March 26, 1986), is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, actor, and spokesperson. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Tracey's career began shortly after forming the Tracey Bros. at the age of thirteen. Tracey's father, Adam, eventually led them to a record deal with Hollywood Records. In late 2002, the group disbanded prior to creative differences and heated altercations; therefore, Tracey decided to part ways and release his debut album, Under Construction ''(2004). The album peaked at #4 on the US Billboard 200 and it was certified Platinum, despite mixed reception from fans and critics alike. The album featured commercially successful single, "Under Construction (Get Ready to Rock)" which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Pop charts. Tracey rose to prominence prior to the follow-up to his debut, ''Highlighted ''(2007), which was a commercial improvement in comparison to Under Construction. Tracey's sophomore album marked Tracey's most successful album, with "Last Goodbye" topping the Billboard Singles charts. After the failure to reach the charts with his third album, ''The Disturbia Chronicles ''(2008), Tracey went on a highly publicized three-year hiatus after a nervous breakdown and a split with then-girlfriend, Jennifer Rhodes. In 2011, Tracey marked his triumphant return with another successful album, ''Brave World ''(2011), which spawned several singles, "Try to Take Me Away," "Video," and "Have You Ever;" the album charted at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts. Aside from Tracey's musical success, he has reveled in a successful acting career. Before the release of his sophomore album, he was the lead character in the ''Torture and Betrayal ''film series. In 2012, he returned to his acting career, joining the thriller film series, ''Room 3118. ''Meanwhile, Tracey released two consecutive albums, ''Point of No Return ''(2012) and ''Headstrong ''(2013), marking his final two albums with Columbia Records. Moving to Def Jam Recordings, Tracey took a year hiatus break to focus on filming ''Me & My Rock Star Brother ''(2014). After a three year hiatus, Tracey is slated to mark his return with ''California '86 ''(2016), which is due for June 24, 2016. Jake Tracey has overall spawned several successful albums in his lifetime. Early life Jake was born in Los Angeles, California on March 30, 1986. His mother, Kara Tracey, is a teacher at high school, and his father, Adam Riley Brachman is a music producer, who had also made Tracey very successful growing up. Tracey is of Italian, Caucasian and African American descent (his mother). Jake attended and graduated West Ridge High School, however, he did not attend college in order to fulfill his music career in the future. Jake has 5 siblings, including artists Andrew Tracey (born in 1988), Cameron Tracey (born in 1989), Mack Tracey (born in 1992), Jennifer Tracey (born in 1995), and Nicole Tracey (born in 1995). Jake, at the age of 13, alongside Andrew and Cameron, had formed the group Tracey Bros., managed by their father, and they released their first single, "Blow the Lights Out", which managed to gain success and peak at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Music career 'Musical beginnings and the rise and fall of ''The Tracey Bros. ''(1999-2002) Jake Tracey and his two younger brothers, Andrew Tracey and Cameron Tracey were born in a musical background. Introduced to hip-hop, as well as other genres by their father and future producer, Jake, Andrew, and Cameron developed their own 'musical band,' which intrigued their father. After hearing the trio perform at the ages of 12 and 13 at their elementary school's talent show, Tracey's father would sign them on to his record label, Brachman Records. Their popularity would later get them signed to Hollywood Records under a five-year contract. On August 18, 2001, The Tracey Bros released their self-titled debut album, spawning the hit single "Blow the Lights Out," peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album achieved lukewarm success, due to the lack of promotion of the group. Eventually, the album would achieve Platinum status in 2002, due to the media publicity of the group. The Tracey Bros. went on tour with newfound group Seventeen during their Third Level Tour ''as the opening act for America in 2002. The Tracey Bros. returned for their sophomore album, TB2, which received critical and commercial success. However, the release of the album sparked controversy between Hollywood Records, and created family conflicts. When Andrew and Cameron accused Hollywood Records' manager Paul Costa of putting Jake on a pedestal, based on his prominent solo distribution on their sophomore album, Jake and his brothers got into a heated altercation. The altercation, apparently, involved confrontation where Jake allegedly stated that his brothers were jealous of his talent. However, these rumors were confirmed untrue by the group. The actual confrontation involved Andrew and Cameron's demand of solo distribution. The request did not go through with the producer, and Jake was silent during the situation, leading to disagreements. As a result, on April 5, 2003, Jake Tracey confirmed decision to leave the Tracey Bros. to pursue a solo career. With Andrew and Cameron, the duo both decided to pursue separate endeavors. Jake Tracey would then stay with Hollywood Records for another year to release his debut album, while Andrew and were both signed to Atlantic Records. Under Construction, ''shelved album, and conflicts with Hollywood Records (2003-2005) After deciding to stay with Hollywood Records, Tracey confirmed in December 30, 2003 that he would release his first album during the summer of 2004. His debut album, Under Construction ''was released on July 8, 2004 to commercial success. However, critics and fans alike were divided with the album, believing that it was unfocused and confusing. Due to the commercial success, Tracey had performed at many award shows, and also released three music videos respectively for "Under Construction (Get Ready to Rock)", "Too Obvious" and "Mars/Venus." In 2005, ''Under Construction ''became an influence for the younger audiences, and therefore Jake Tracey became a teen idol. During this time, in November 2005, Jake Tracey began writing and recording for his sophomore album, which was then-titled ''Point of No Return ''under Hollywood Records. However, Tracey's management continued to convince Tracey to release more material similar to ''Under Construction ''because of its marketable success. Tracey's original plans were to write his own material and improve his musical style to appeal to his audiences, but Hollywood Records refused to let this happen. Therefore, tensions arose between Tracey and the management of Hollywood Records. Tracey's anger management issues during this time became more obvious, although he was very young, he had a temper tantrum in front of the Hollywood Records agents, demanding to be released from the label. Eventually, Tracey's departure from Hollywood Records left the label in a funk in 2005. 'Debut acting career and Highlighted (2006-2007) Presumably, during this time, Tracey had signed a recording contract with Columbia Records by the end of 2005, weeks after his departure from Hollywood Records. Afterwards, Tracey decided to take a short break from planning his sophomore album to focus on a debut acting career. Although he originally appeared in cameos for television series such as Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (to promote Under Construction), he became the main interest for a role in the suspense-triller film ''Torture.' The film was released on October 21, 2006, just three months before Tracey's sophomore album would be released. Tracey's debut role in the film sparked controversy. Although many critics praised Tracey's breakthrough role and his acting in the film, they criticized the writers' decision to cast Tracey in a very risque film despite his teen-oriented fanbase. However, his role garnered nominations as 'Best New Actor' and 'Best Breakthrough Role in a Film' for The MTV Movie Awards. Just months after the success of ''Torture, Tracey released his first official single from his sophomore album, ''Highlighted, ''"15 (If I Was a Teenager Again)" on November 8, 2006. The song, and the album as a whole was recognized for Tracey's vocals. Since he was 20 years old during the release, his vocals matured. Tracey released ''Highlighted ''on January 24, 2007 and was met with favorable reception from critics, who complimented Tracey's lyrical content, but were ambivalent towards Tracey's maturity as an artist. Like ''Under Construction, ''Tracey's sophomore album was a commercial success, hitting number 1 on the Billboard 200 charts, and it remained on the charts for 20 weeks straight. ''Highlighted ''spawned two more successful singles, such as "Nothing You Can Say" and "Take Me On," and two lukewarm singles, "Fun" and "Summer Breeze". For "Nothing You Can Say," Tracey received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Song. Eventually, the album would go Platinum in May of 2008. ''The Disturbia Chronicles ''and media publicity '(2007-2008) Confident by the success of his sophomore album, Tracey began recording sessions for his third album and his second album on Columbia Records when "Nothing You Can Say" was released as a single. Originally, Tracey hoped to release an hip-hop and rock focused album. During this time, at least 30 songs were recorded for his third album, The Disturbia Chronicles. ''Most of these songs, however, were demos that were previously for ''Highlighted, ''but they did not set the tone for the album. The album title was influenced by Rihanna's "Disturbia" single, which Tracey covered for the album. On June 21, 2008, Tracey released a promotional single to surprise the fans, "Hot" featuring Shwayze and Cisco, which marked his first collaboration with another artist. The song was remixed, including rap verses from Andy Milonakis. On August 21, 2008, Tracey released his first official single from ''The Disturbia Chronicles, ''"Into the Blue" which became an immediate hit and received radio airplay. During the recording of this album, Tracey continued his acting career by filming for the sequel to ''Torture. ''The film's release would also promote Tracey's third album, slated for a release on October 18, 2008. ''Torture 2 ''was released in theaters in October 10, 2008, just eight days before ''The Disturbia Chronicles ''was released. The third album was officially released, but the album was not a complete success. Upon release, ''The Disturbia Chronicles ''was panned by critics and fans, who criticized its rushed, lazy nature, and the album's unusual direction to hip-hop. The second single, "Torn Down" was released afterwards, despite the success, and received lukewarm commercial success. Overall, ''The Disturbia Chronicles ''only hit number 8 on the Billboard 200 charts, making it Tracey's weakest album performance. Based on the commercial failure of ''The Disturbia Chronicles, ''Tracey received a lot of negative publicity, which mostly revolved around rumors of a domestic relationship with his then-girlfriend Sharee Johnston. Although the two began dating in 2006, Tracey and Johnston appeared to be in a verbal and physical altercation outside of a restaurant in Los Angeles, California, just a month after ''The Disturbia Chronicles. ''Tracey's behavior during this period also became a controversy in interviews. His most infamous interview on radio shows and television talk shows involved him storming off the stage, talking over the interviewers or sudden fits of rage. Many fans noticed that his behavior was volatile, and he was also assumed to be using over-the-counter prescription drugs. Tracey's behavior became very volatile to the point where he refused to do interviews or any award shows to perform, which sparked a conflict for Jake Tracey and Perez Hilton, who got into a major feud on social media. 'Hiatus and rehabilitation (2009-2011) As soon as Tracey's behavior began to harm his reputation, Tracey was admitted to the hospital on March 20, 2009 after having a 'severe anxiety attack' and a nervous breakdown in front of his family. Tracey's mother and father were appalled when he 'threatened to leave the music business' and had a fit of rage. Tracey soon recovered, and his hospitalization sparked concern for celebrities, fans, and the media. Once he was released from the hospital under intensive care, Tracey kept low for a month and refused to go anywhere. For a month, he stayed in his Los Angeles home, with his brothers and his sister, Kara, checking on him. On May 15, 2009, Tracey admitted himself to rehab to recover from severe anxiety and depression. His decision to depart from music left fans devastated, and one major fan made a petition for him to return, but during this time, he checked into rehab already. Tracey remained in rehabilitation for twelve months and refused to write any material or come up with new songs while there. However, fans were taken by surprise by mysterious collaborations from Tracey in 2010. For LOV's third album, Here We Are, ''he was featured in "Running Away From Here," and he was featured in Kelli Love's ''Colorblind ''album for "Lie To You" in 2010. Brave World, Point of No Return, and Stronger ''(2011-2013) After nine months of rehabilation and 10 more months away from the music industry, there were allegations during the spring of 2011, that Tracey had returned to the studio for new material. Tracey, presumably, limited his outside appearances by wearing incognito apparel to prevent paparazzi. In September, Tracey took fans by surprise after releasing his first song in two years on Twitter, "Have You Ever." 'Departure from Columbia Records and ''My Rock Star Brother ''(2014)' ''California '86 and '86/2 ''(2016-present) Discography With Tracey Bros: *''Tracey Bros. (2001) *''TB2 ''(2002) '''Solo albums:' *''Under Construction (2004) *Highlighted (2006) *The Disturbia Chronicles (2008) *Brave World (2011) *Point Of No Return (2012) *Stronger'' (2013) *''California '86 (2016) *Arcade (2019) '''Live albums:' * ''California '86: The World Tour ''(2017) Filmography *''Torture and Betrayal ''(2005) - Trey Pennington *''Torture and Betrayal 2 ''(2008) - Trey Pennington *''Room 3118 ''(2012) *''My Rock Star Brother ''(2014) *''Room 3118, Part II: The Room Game ''(2014) *''Room 3118, Part III: Father's Advocate ''(2015) *''Room 3118, Part IV: Bloodhunters ''(2017) *''Room 3118, Part V: Resurrection ''(2018) *''Room 3118, Part VI: The Final Stand ''(2019)